Lack of Sleep and Heart Problems

By Vivian Richardson, Ivanhoe Health Correspondent

ORLANDO (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Losing sleep can have negative consequences for your heart health.

Researchers who examined what happened when they kept 32 study participants from getting enough sleep report the deprivation seemed to cause a decrease in heart rate variability, which previous studies have associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

"If our finding is sustained by a larger group and further analysis, it may suggest why short sleep duration is associated with a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality," University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine researcher Siobhan Banks reported in a statement released by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

"It's obviously a somewhat ominous finding," Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologist James Januzzi, M.D., told Ivanhoe. "It lends real support to some of the more back-to-basic kinds of theories we have in medicine these days about how to minimize one's risk for heart disease."

It seems more and more doctors are urging their patients to take simple steps, like getting a good night's sleep and eating right, to reduce their risk of developing heart disease, explained Dr. Januzzi. Despite the availability of powerful medications and high-tech surgeries "simple things, like taking care of oneself as a preventive measure, may be even more powerful," he said.

Dr. Januzzi has also seen the link between heart disease and sleep loss. In studies of patients with coronary artery disease, he found a surprisingly high number had insomnia. "It's hard to know if the insomnia is related, necessarily, to the development of heart disease or if it follows the onset of their heart disease. But whatever the case may be, I don't think anyone in the world disputes the fact that getting a good night's sleep is important."

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

SOURCE: Ivanhoe interview with James Januzzi, M.D.; Presented at the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies in Minneapolis, June 9-14, 2007